Alive
by Sweetwater Daze
Summary: First songfic in many following the senshi after the defeat of Galaxia. Celebration!


Title: AliveAuthor: Kali Witeblood  
  
Rating: PG-13Email: witeblood@yahoo.com  
  
Genre: SongficBand/Artist: P.O.D.  
  
Disclaimer: Sailormoon isn't mine. The song isn't mine. 'Nuff said.  
  
------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Everyday is a new day  
  
I'm thankful for every breath I take  
  
Usagi stepped off her porch with a smile on her face, breathing  
  
in the early morning air and holding her schoolbag tightly to her chest.  
  
She felt newly invigorated, suddenly released from one responsibility  
  
that spurred her to take on another. 'I'm so happy to still be here,'  
  
she thought, noting the irony of it. 'Not more than a week ago I would  
  
still be asleep. Still be dreaming of Tuxedo Kamen - Mamoru. Oh, my  
  
Mamo-chan!'  
  
The object of her affections had just appeared down the block  
  
from her, and in her glee, she took off running, eyes only for him. Her  
  
pigtails streamed out behind her, shining ribbons of gold easily recog-  
  
nizeable to the tall man who had just turned the corner to come and get  
  
her for school.  
  
"Usako!" he exclaimed, happily, as Usagi ran into his arms and  
  
they held each other tight. "Usako . . . I'm so glad to see you this  
  
morning . . ."  
  
I won't take it for granted  
  
So I learn from my mistakes  
  
A few moments later, a rather suprirsed Ami came up beside the  
  
happy couple, eyeing Usagi warily.  
  
"Usagi-chan," she said, smiling, "How are you this morning?"  
  
"Refreshed and excited!" Usagi exclaimed happily. "I'm starting  
  
all over again, Ami-chan. All over!"  
  
Ami and Mamoru both laughed at Usagi's bubbling excitement,  
  
finding it hard to resist her contagious bright mood.  
  
"So, Usagi-chan," Ami said, slowly, "Would you mind too horribly  
  
much to teach me how to play the new Sailor V game at the arcade after  
  
school today?"  
  
Then it was Usagi's turn to have wide eyes in amazement. "A . .  
  
Ami-chan," she said slowly, glancing to Mamoru first to make sure she  
  
had heard correctly. Mamoru nodded imperceptibly to confirm that she  
  
had.  
  
"Ami-chan, I'd be glad to teach you, but . . . why? I thought  
  
you'd want to study considering how much time you missed against . . .  
  
well, you know," Usagi said, glancing around quickly to make sure there  
  
was nobody to overhear. "Since we started fighting against Chaos . . .  
  
we lost a -lot- of time."  
  
Ami grinned and nodded. "Absolutely, Usagi-chan," she said,  
  
still smiling. "Life isn't all about good grades and studying, after  
  
all!"  
  
It's beyond my control sometimes it's best to let go,  
  
whatever happens in this lifetime  
  
Deciding not to question Ami's sudden change of heart or what-  
  
ever motives she may have, Usagi and Mamoru both shrugged, then walked  
  
down the street, hand in hand, towards Usagi's and Ami's school.  
  
Rei, Makoto and Minako were all waiting for USagi and Ami when  
  
they got to school, Makoto and Minako making catcalls and making jokes  
  
as Mamoru kissed Usagi before waving at them and walking off. Usagi  
  
blushed, but walked up the steps to her school proudly, fully knowing  
  
of the envious stares she was recieving from all the girls already at  
  
school, and shocked ones from anybody else who didn't care.  
  
"Hey, Rei-chan," Usagi chirped, sitting down on a bench that  
  
the trio had already claimed, with Ami sitting next to her. "What are  
  
you doing over here? I thought your school started an hour earlier than  
  
we do?"  
  
Rei rolled her eyes and flipped her hair over her shoulder  
  
haughtily before she hauled Usagi to her feet and gave her a big hug.  
  
"For one thing, Usagi-chan," she said, laughing, "I wanted to  
  
tell you how proud of you I am!" She nudged Makoto, still grinning.  
  
"You and Mamoru-kun took off so quickly after the battle that none of us  
  
got a chance to say anything, to say the least of where you've been the  
  
past few days!"  
  
Usagi's blush only grew deeper as her friends hounded her for  
  
details of what had happened between her and Mamoru after Galaxia was  
  
returned to normal and Chaos was defeated.  
  
So I trust in love ( So I trust in love )  
  
You have given me peace of mind  
  
After school, four girls ran out of their school laughing,  
  
jumping, and smiling. Two of which were receiving shocked, almost  
  
afraid looks.  
  
"Did you see the look on Haruna-sensei's face this morning?"  
  
Usagi exclaimed, laughing and turning a kartwheel on the wide grass  
  
lawn that stretched in front of the school. "I thought she was going  
  
to have a heart attack!"  
  
Ami, Makoto and Minako gave each other high fives as they  
  
laughed and agreed in unison. "And Ami, the way you ran out of there  
  
after the final bell rang was priceless!"  
  
Ami blushed, very mildly, but looked very pleased with herself.  
  
"I learned from the best, Usagi-chan!" she teased.  
  
"Usako!" a voice called, and Usagi spun around to spot Mamoru  
  
standing at the curb. "Usako!" he called again.  
  
"Mamo-chan!" Usagi squealed, and launched herself from the group  
  
into her boyfriend's waiting arms.  
  
Makoto rolled her eyes, while Minako and Ami sighed whistfully.  
  
"Some things will never change," mused Ami.  
  
I, I feel so alive  
  
For the very first time  
  
I can't deny you  
  
I feel so alive  
  
Once the group of five reached the arcade, Motoki was there to  
  
greet them all with chocolate milkshakes, on the house.  
  
"Mamo-chan, did you have something to do with this?" Usagi  
  
asked innocently, while Ami, Makoto, Minako, and the newly arrived Rei  
  
went to try their hand at the Sailor V video game.  
  
Mamoru merely winked at Usagi and led her to a booth, promising  
  
her anything that she wanted, anything that would make her happy.  
  
"Mamo-chan, I promised Ami-chan I would teach her how to play  
  
the Sailor V game!" Usagi pointed out as Mamoru started kissing her  
  
playfully, holding her tight in his arms.  
  
"But Usako . . . mmm I don't want to let you go. You were gone  
  
from me for too long!"  
  
"Mamo-chan," Usagi muttered, good naturedly, "I'm going to be  
  
gone for longer after being dragged away by four angry young women when  
  
my best friend who's a certified genius gets beaten by a normal, every  
  
day video game!"  
  
"I think she has a point, Mamoru-kun," Motoki pointed out, set-  
  
ting another round of milkshakes down on the table Mamoru had led Usagi  
  
to. "Ami-chan's getting her butt kicked over there."  
  
Usagi glanced over to the game console, and sure enough, the  
  
words "Game Over" were flashing in big, bold red letters across the  
  
screen as Rei, Minaok and Makoto tried their best to console Ami on her  
  
loss.  
  
"I'd better get over there, Mamo-chan," Usagi pleaded, squirm-  
  
ing her way out of his arms and joining her friends at the game.  
  
I, I feel so alive  
  
For the very first time  
  
And I think I can fly  
  
Mamoru sat at the booth, smiling as he watched Usagi race across  
  
the cafe of the arcade to the game and then nearly crash into Makoto as  
  
she turned around.  
  
"Usagi-chan sure has changed this past week," Mamoru mused to  
  
himself as Motoki came up beside him to observe the five girls laughing  
  
and joking around with each other.  
  
"Gee, ya think, Mamoru-kun?" Motoki teased, wiping his hands on  
  
a cloth and stuffing it into an apron pocket. "What happened, anyway?  
  
I thought it would take nothing short of a miracle to get good grades,  
  
grace, and attentiveness out of that girl, but I haven't seen anything  
  
of the sort happening lately."  
  
Motoki paused, scowling slightly as he observed Usagi closer.  
  
"Not unless you count that freak accident out at the TV towers last  
  
week. Did you hear about that, Mamoru-kun?" Motoki asked, "I don't  
  
remember if you were back from the States then or not."  
  
Mamoru nodded, his face suddenly very serious. "Yeah, Motoki-  
  
kun, I heard about it. Usa-chan told me about it . . ."  
  
"Well?" Motoki prompted.  
  
Mamoru sighed and rolled his eyes. "Usa-chan and some of her  
  
classmates were on a tour when it happened. They got out, thankfully.  
  
That might have something to do with her change." Mamoru got up from  
  
his seat then, a smile back on his face.  
  
"Whatever caused it," he declared, "I don't care. I'm happy  
  
that my Usako is happy, and I'm happier still that she's alive to share  
  
my life with."  
  
Sunshine upon my face  
  
A new song for me to sing  
  
After Usagi had sufficiently taught Ami how to defeat some of  
  
the more henious monsters on the latest Sailor V game, the five girls  
  
plus Mamoru gathered out in front of the arcade for a small, impromptu  
  
senshi meeting.  
  
"Luna says everything's clear," Usagi said, pouting slightly  
  
while holding on to Mamoru's arm as an apparent example. "I don't know  
  
why she wants to have another meeting today."  
  
Ami and Rei exchanged pleased glances, almost glad to see some  
  
semblance of their old friend retained in the new, somewhat improved  
  
version of their leader.  
  
"Luna didn't say it was an actual -meeting-, odango atama," Rei  
  
teased, gently, and was satisfied when Usagi promptly stuck her tongue  
  
out at her.  
  
"Well, then what does she want?" Ami requested quietly, in her  
  
typical fashion.  
  
"Well, to be completely honest, I don't exactly know." She  
  
glanced quickly to Usagi, then Mamoru. "She did, however, say one thing  
  
that I don't think you're going to like, Usagi-chan," Rei replied.  
  
Usagi narrowed her eyes at Rei and gripped Mamoru's arm tighter.  
  
"She's not going to try and replace me now, is she?" she muttered.  
  
Rei laughed and put a hand on Usagi's shoulder. "Once an Odango  
  
Atama, always one. She said that it was girls only."  
  
Minako let out a whoop and danced around with joy. "No  
  
Artemis!" she cried happily, "No more hounding about what I'm going to  
  
-do- with myself! I'm free!" She started to spin around in circles,  
  
attracting strange looks from people passing by. "For one night of my  
  
life, I'm FREE!"  
  
Tell the world how I feel inside  
  
Even though it might cost me everything  
  
The other four girls shared embarassed looks and Usagi slowly  
  
released her grip on Mamoru's arm.  
  
"I guess I'll talk to you later, Mamo-chan," she said, somewhat  
  
sadly, but excited that she got a night with the girls. "I'll see you  
  
tomorrow, ne?"  
  
Mamoru nodded, squeezing Usagi's hand before releasing it. "Of  
  
course, Usako," he murmured softly, giving her a soft kiss on the cheek  
  
before turning to go. "Ja, minna."  
  
With the five girls waving at him as he walked away, Mamoru  
  
felt a strange inkling begin to grow inside of him until he felt he  
  
would explode with the amazing feeling that he had now come to know and  
  
to treasure.  
  
The remaining group turned and began to walk the opposite dir-  
  
ection, towards the Hikawa Shrine that Rei was still helping to take  
  
care of.  
  
"Okay, Rei-chan, spill," Makoto demanded the second Mamoru was  
  
out of ear shot. "I know you know what Luna wants, and I think we all  
  
know that -we- want to know as well. Now."  
  
Rei nodded, shoving her hands into the small pockets in her  
  
uniform skirt. "Luna told me she had something very important to  
  
discuss with us," she said quietly, casting looks around the group every  
  
so often to look for eavesdroppers. "She didn't tell me exactly what,  
  
but from what she said, I think it's safe to say that it could only be  
  
one thing."  
  
"What is it, Rei-chan?" Usagi asked, sensing the time to be  
  
serious was at hand.  
  
"I think she wants us to . . . come clean to the public, if you  
  
will," Rei said, hesitantly.  
  
Now that I know this is beyond my control  
  
'cause I could never turn my back away  
  
"WHAT?" five girls voices chorused as they sat huddled around a  
  
low table still filled with various food and goodies.  
  
"You want us, Luna, the sailor senshi and prime target for not  
  
only the paparazzi, but the -mob-, to reveal our civilian identities to  
  
the public?" Minako screeched.  
  
Luna hopped down from her position on a windowsil to weave in  
  
and out among the girls seated on the floor.  
  
"It was a TV studio, girls," Luna chided, "There were video  
  
cameras actively recording in there, anyway. One or more of them may  
  
have caught you transforming, and again, one or more of them may have  
  
survived the tower's collapse." Luna sighed and finally jumped up on  
  
to the table, finding a clear spot to sit and curling her tail around  
  
her haunches before adressing the five girls again. "Don't you think  
  
it would be easier to get a couple of steps ahead of anybody who may  
  
recover those tapes?"  
  
All of the girls but Usagi grumbled a sort of agreement, but  
  
Usagi herself scowled and glared in Luna's direction.  
  
"Luna, I don't see how you can be so foolish as to want to do  
  
something like this."  
  
Five heads simetaneously whipped to look, aghast, at Usagi, who  
  
had by now stood and was glaring at Luna with angry tears boiling in her  
  
eyes.  
  
"For years, now, the girls and I have risked our lives every day  
  
out there, on the streets, for this city, and for the world. And for  
  
what?" She cried. "Every day, there's more tabloids than news about  
  
the mysterious senshi who always seem to show up whenever there's  
  
trouble." She whiped furiously at her eyes and locked them onto Luna's,  
  
making sure Luna could not look away.  
  
"Now, this is finally all over. The very thing that corrupts  
  
magic to the point of pure evil hell bent on destruction is gone, and  
  
you want us to face yet -another- problem? Luna, I don't know if you  
  
see this at all and by the way you're talking, you obviously don't, but  
  
this may be the only chance the girls and I will -ever- have to lead a  
  
normal, teenage girl, life!"  
  
Now that I see you  
  
I can never look away  
  
The entire room was silent, so silent you could hear a -whisker-  
  
drop, but nobody said anything. Usagi had the floor, but she was  
  
finished. They couldn't take their eyes away from her. For the first  
  
time since battling Beryl, Usagi willingly took on the form of their  
  
princess - their true leader. It was difficult for them to grasp.  
  
"Usagi-chan," Rei whispered softly, but then blinked and shook  
  
her head, kneeling in front of Usagi and correcting herself. "Iie . . .  
  
Serenity-sama."  
  
Her eyes were trained on to Usagi's as the other senshi joined  
  
her on the floor as the crackling tension in the air gradually began  
  
to fade. Finally, Usagi spoke.  
  
"Stand up, minna," she said, nervously, waving her hands around.  
  
"It still makes me feel ackward when you do that!"  
  
All four girls were instantly on their feet, offering their  
  
apologies, only to be waved away by Usagi. "Don't apologize, minna,"  
  
she was quick to assure them. "It was as new to me as it was to you.  
  
Trust me!"  
  
I, I feel so alive  
  
For the very first time  
  
I can't deny you  
  
I feel so alive  
  
As Usagi walked back to her house later in the afternoon, there  
  
was a noteable spring in her step. She felt complete, whole in a way  
  
that she had never felt when she was with Mamoru. She felt lighter and  
  
a new sense of purpose and belonging was beginning to dawn in her mind  
  
that made her feel like turning kartwheels in the streets and singing at  
  
the top of her lungs.  
  
"So, you have finally accepted your fate, I see?" a soft voice  
  
said from somewhere behind Usagi. Usagi spun around and spotted  
  
Setsuna standing not too far behind her, leaning casually against a  
  
lamp post. "I have never seen you so care free except when I was  
  
watching you from the gates before you found Luna."  
  
"Setsuna-sama!" Usagi squealed in delight, and wrapped her  
  
arms around the taller woman in a hug. "It's so good to see you! Where  
  
have you been hiding this past week?"  
  
Setsuna smiled and held up her hand, palm up, opening it to let  
  
a small charm dangle from her finger. "I was looking for this,  
  
actually, Usagi-chan," she said.  
  
Usagi reached out and gently took the charm from Setsuna's  
  
fingers, observing it closely as the jewel facets caught the fading  
  
light and sparkled like snowflakes and fire. "What is it, Setsuna-  
  
sama?"  
  
"Usagi-chan, please . . . you no longer need call me sama. It  
  
is too formal." Setsuna dipped her head minutely instead. "Rather, let  
  
us be friends, onegai?"  
  
Usagi looked shocked, but then smiled warmly and wholeheartedly  
  
agreed.  
  
I, I feel so alive  
  
For the very first time  
  
And I think I can fly  
  
"So tell me, Setsuna . . . chan," Usagi flushed at the requested  
  
friendship at first, but quickly became comfortable with it. "What is  
  
this thing, and why give it to me?"  
  
At first, Setsuna merely shrugged her shoulders and began walk-  
  
ing down the street in the direction of Usagi's house. "It's something  
  
your mother made me promise I'd give to you after you'd made your first  
  
major accomplishment, Usagi-chan," she admitted, softly.  
  
"Defeating Galaxia was my first major accomplishment?" Usagi  
  
asked, slightly apalled, but still slightly amazed.  
  
Setsuna laughed, her dark eyes twinkling in merriment. "No,  
  
Usagi-chan, it wasn't Galaxia that your mother meant when she gave that  
  
into my care," she confided. "It was getting your senshi to loosen up  
  
and accept life as it comes." Seeing Usagi's puzzled glance, she  
  
continued. "Ami-chan, for example. She's no longer about books and  
  
studying, is she not?"  
  
Usagi nodded slowly, understanding slowly beginning to grow, and  
  
as she held the small charm up to the light again, she realized what  
  
Setsuna had meant.  
  
"You mean allowing the senshi to live?"  
  
"Usagi-chan," Setsuna said, softly, stopping once more to turn  
  
and face Usagi directly. "Usagi-chan . . . what you would have done for  
  
your friends against Galaxia is the very thing your mother did when she  
  
sent you and your senshi and the rest of us into the future," she  
  
admitted. "To sacrifice ones self for the greater good is the greatest  
  
accomplishment you, as the future monarch of a global community, could  
  
ever make."  
  
Now that I know you  
  
I could never turn my back away  
  
And now that I see you  
  
I could never look away  
  
"So, my mother?" Usagi asked, her voice suddenly trembelling  
  
with emotion. "My mother is still alive somewhere? Setsuna-chan?"  
  
Setsuna smiled and took Usagi's hand affectionately. "Yes,  
  
Usagi-chan, your mother is alive somewhere."  
  
"Where?" Usagi immediately demanded. "When can I see her again  
  
Setsuna-chan? When?" She pleaded, her big blue eyes tearing up with  
  
the thought of seeing her long-lost mother again.  
  
"Not yet, I'm afraid," Setsuna revealed carefully. "Unfortu-  
  
nately there are still a few things that need to be taken care of here  
  
first."  
  
"Oh . . ." Usagi breathed, her eyes immediately filling with  
  
sadness.  
  
"But what this is, Usagi-chan," Setsuna continued, lifing  
  
Usagi's hand back up to have the charm dangle in front of her face, "Is  
  
sort of a communications device." Setsuna smiled at Usagi's puzzled  
  
expression. "Every full moon, you only have to remove the ginzuishou  
  
from it's setting in your brooch, and replace it with this crystal  
  
instead. It will allow you to communicate, and, at the new moon, allow  
  
her to project a sort of holographic image of herself to you."  
  
"Really?" Usagi exclaimed, staring at the crystal in a new  
  
amazement. "I can do that?"  
  
Setsuna only nodded.  
  
"Thank you, Setsuna-chan!" Usagi cried, throwing her arms around  
  
the older woman once more, before backing away quickly while a blush  
  
grew on Setsuna's face. "Thank you so much!"  
  
Setsuna smiled and placed a hand on Usagi's shoulder. "If you  
  
hurry, Usagi-chan," she whispered, "You might be able to catch her."  
  
Usagi once more looked puzzled.  
  
"Look up, Usagi-chan, and you'll see. I have to go back to the  
  
gates for now, but I'll see you soon, okay?"  
  
"Hai, Setsuna-chan! Thanks again!" Usagi cried, spinning and  
  
dashing down the street towards her house.  
  
And now that I know you  
  
I could never turn my back away  
  
And now that I see you  
  
I believe no matter what they say  
  
Late that night, Usagi sat in her room, her senshi gathered  
  
around her with worried expressions on their faces.  
  
"Her mother said she hadn't responded to anything for the last  
  
three or four hours, ever since she got home from the shrine," Ami said  
  
quietly, gazing into Usagi's eyes for some hint as to where her best  
  
friend's mind had gone.  
  
"That's probably why she called me then," Rei muttered, glancing  
  
out the window and fidgeting nervously where she sat. "Setsuna-sama  
  
did visit me the other night and warn me that something like this might  
  
happen . . ."  
  
All eyes locked onto Rei, glaring, almost accusing.  
  
"Hey, I'm sorry minna, she told me I couldn't tell anybody. She  
  
just wanted to make sure there was somebody who would make sure that we  
  
wouldn't all . . ."  
  
Rei trailed off as a soft aura began to surround Usagi slowly,  
  
gleaming off of her hair and her eyes glowing with a serene light as she  
  
slowly raised her head to look outside, her eyes steadily resting on the  
  
full moon. "Ma . . ."  
  
Rei sighed, visibly relieved, while the other three girls' eyes  
  
were shocked wide open and exchanged aghast expressions with each other,  
  
hardly able to believe what they were hearing coming out of their  
  
leader's mouth.  
  
Before anybody else had a chance to react, the light surrounding  
  
Usagi grew to such an intensity that they all had to shield their eyes  
  
else they be blinded by the steadily increasing light. When the light  
  
faded, and they were able to look at Usagi once again, she wasn't there.  
  
Instead, a regal form sat, hair of spun silver pooling around  
  
her feet where she sat, and her eyes glowing a cool misty blue as she  
  
blinked once, reached up to feel the tiara settled on her mass of curls,  
  
blinked again and was suddenly reverted back to Usagi, shaking her head  
  
with a dazed, but happy expression on her face.  
  
"Usagi-chan!" Ami exclaimed happily and threw her arms around  
  
Usagi, while Usagi only smiled, nodding at Rei's inquisitive glance, as  
  
the other girls expressed their relief around her.  
  
I, I feel so alive  
  
For the very first time  
  
I can't deny you  
  
I feel so alive  
  
"Usagi-chan, what happened?" Rei and Usagi lounged in her room  
  
in the early morning hours, Ami, Makoto and Minako long gone, while Rei  
  
stayed behind to discuss the course of the previous evenings events with  
  
Usagi. "Setsuna-sama did tell me you'd go into a trance of some sort  
  
for a while, but never hinted as to what . . . and then when you shifted  
  
earlier . . ."  
  
Usagi smiled and turned to face Rei, her eyes still the  
  
shimmering ice blue that they had become before. "Rei-chan," she said  
  
softly, almost in awe. "I saw my mother!"  
  
It was then that Rei noticed the new amulet hanging around  
  
Usagi's neck, and realized what Setsuna had done.  
  
"She gave you that?" Rei asked, pointing at the item hanging  
  
from a thin gold chain. "Setsuna-sama?"  
  
Usagi nodded, embracing the small charm with her hand and  
  
smiling down softly at it. "She gave it to me so I could communicate  
  
with my mother, now that the threat is gone . . ."  
  
"Setsuna-sama . . . said the threat was gone?"  
  
Usagi smiled wider, "Well, any that was any major threat to us,  
  
anyway. Any that might try to get to my mother and change the way  
  
things were meant to be . . . yeah."  
  
"She said that?"  
  
Usagi laughed, her eyes sparkling. "Rei-chan, you know better  
  
than that . . . she didn't say that, exactly . . ." Usagi once again  
  
smiled down at the charm in her hands. "It's in the things she does  
  
that tells me these things. She could never say anything, but she could  
  
never hold anything back from us, if we were only to look for it."  
  
Rei settled back against the pillows she was leaning against,  
  
appraising Usagi quietly. "You really are becoming her, aren't you?"  
  
she asked, softly.  
  
"Who, Rei-chan?" Usagi replied, innocently.  
  
"Serenity."  
  
I, I feel so alive  
  
For the very first time  
  
And I think I can fly  
  
The girls went to bed when the sun was on it's slow incline  
  
above the horizon. Rei, puzzled. Usagi, happy. Before Usagi closed  
  
her eyes, she cast one more glance to the sky, clutching the necklace  
  
tightly in her fist. "Arigato, mama," she whispered to the sky, then  
  
shut her eyes and fell asleep.  
  
In her dreams, she was victorious once more, her wings spread to  
  
their full wing span, and she was sweeping through the skies feeling  
  
glorious, and for the first time, even though she didn't feel it after  
  
she defeated Chaos and freed Galaxia, she felt free. The bonds and  
  
burdens of fate and honor no longer clung so tightly to her . . . 


End file.
